Self-proclaimed Satoshi wins legal battle against Cobra, Bitcoin.org to remove the Bitcoin whitepaper from site
Months after taking legal action against several crypto websites hosting the Bitcoin whitepaper, Craig Wright has won the legal dispute against Cobra.
Recall that at the beginning of the year, Wright, who has continually claimed to be Bitcoin’s pseudonym founder Satoshi Nakamoto, issued a threat to the owners of Bitcoin.org and Bitcoincore.org. He asserted that both websites were illegally hosting the Bitcoin whitepaper and ordered them to remove it from their platforms.
While the owners of Bitcoincore.org were quick to remove every reference of the whitepaper from its site, Bitcoin.org (whose pseudonymous founder is Cobra) labeled Wright’s claims as “false allegations” and geared up for legal battle. In an official post back then, Cobra said:
Yesterday both Bitcoin.org and Bitcoincore.org received allegations of copyright infringement of the Bitcoin whitepaper by lawyers representing Craig Steven Wright. In this letter, they claim Craig owns the copyright to the paper, the Bitcoin name, and ownership of bitcoin.org. They also claim he is Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, and the original owner of bitcoin.org. Bitcoin.org and Bitcoincore.org were both asked to take down the whitepaper. We believe these claims are without merit, and refuse to do so.
Following his failure to comply with Wright’s demands, a legal dispute was opened against Cobra and his organization Bitcoin.org. According to information from the law firm representing Wright Ontier LLP, the self-proclaimed Bitcoin’s founder was awarded a default judgment in his lawsuit against Cobra.
Cobra was absent during the hearing to defend his assertions. This is arguably due to the fact that he would have to reveal his identity. His abstention gave Wright an easy win by default.
Simon Cohen, a member of Wright’s legal team explained:
This is an important development in Dr. Wright’s quest to obtain judicial vindication of his copyright in his White Paper. Although he has secured victory today by default because no defense was forthcoming, it is notable that the English court has nevertheless injuncted ‘Cøbra’ from making the White Paper accessible in the UK.
It is worth clarifying that Wright’s victory does not in any way mean that he is being recognized as the author of the Bitcoin whitepaper or the pseudonym founder of Bitcoin by British courts. Wright was able to win this one because of Cobra’s anonymity. Consequently, Bitcoin.org will have to remove the whitepaper from its site.
